Paradigmatic approaches used in enterprise resource planning systems research: A systematic literature review

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine the range of research paradigms employed in a smaller subset of Information Systems (IS) literature, namely Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. A systematic literature review based on papers that mentioned ERPs was drawn from eight of the most highly ranked journals according to their h-index. The findings indicate that the majority (96.6%) of the ERP research papers were conducted within a positivist research paradigm, which is a far higher proportion than is suggested by other research in the general IS literature (approximately 81%). This paper suggests that there is a strong case for ERP researchers to look at existing paradigm selection and how effectively their research relates to the ERP body of knowledge, especially in respect to the issues of importance to managers within organizations (notably social and change management issues). This research also identified areas where existing paradigm evaluation methods could be enhanced and refined in respect to non-positivist classifications.